1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for reduction of particle size, and more particularly to a comminution apparatus for uniformly disbursing solids within a liquid slurry to produce a homogeneous product.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A large number of manufacturing processes require for the uniform dispersion of dissimilar particulate materials to produce a homogeneous slurry product. Often, the starting particulate materials are irregular size, and must be reduced to a uniform size, such as a very fine powder, which are then uniformly dispersed within a solvent carrier to produce a master batch. This is particularly applicable in the arts of paints and printing inks.
Some prior art devices attempted to affect such process utilizing mechanical means wherein metal to metal surfaces crush the solid particles to achieve a uniform size for dispersion. Other prior art devices use an intermediate media, such as sand, shot, ceramic beads or stones to reduce particle size by causing such intermediate media to interact with the particulate materials to attempt to achieve uniform particle size for subsequent uniform dispersion and are limited by the characteristics and viscosity of the solvent carrier, particularly for low viscosity slurries. Additionally, such prior art devices accelerated wear on the equipment due to the inherent abrasive nature of the process.